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How to cook a Pizza…

The new trend is to pick up a freshly prepared pizza and take it home to cook. When this idea first began Betty, my friend and mother-n-law, introduced us to a Papa Murphy’s Pizza. However, Eric and I had never purchased one.

Hold on tight to your teeth because this is one of our funniest adventure!

As most of you know, I was not a very fun Valentine last year. In fact, we were both racking our brains trying to figure out what we did. Finally, Eric said, “Plan it and we will do it!”

The morning came and I continued to fret over the day. Then I jumped up and went shopping. Oh this was turning out to be a perfect day. I found two gigantic Flamingos kissing and bought a card. Next, I slipped over to his work and basically filled the back seat with balloons for his Valentines SURPRISE!

To complete the day, I went to Papa Murphy’s and purchased a beautiful, fresh, fully loaded pizza. This was my first time so the girl provided me with complete instructions! “The instructions are on the top and your’s are the ‘middle’ instructions because of your choice of crust.”

Sounds simple enough. Honey came home, we went for a long bike ride and came home starving.

As I prepared the oven he handed me the instructions and unwrapped the pizza. The aroma of all the toppings and seasonings filled the air. I read the ‘middle’ instructions. “Okay, four hundred degrees, cook for 18 to twenty, on lowest rack in oven. I have got this!”

“Hey do we cook this on this paper thing?” Eric asked.

I read the ‘middle’ instructions once again, OUT LOUD.

“Honey, it says nothing about what to cook it on,” I replied.

In about five minutes, I turn around to Eric almost screaming at me! “HEY! I need some help here, I don’t know how we are going to get this pizza on the rack,” he stated, with half of the pizza in both of his hands and the pizza appears to be, GROWING!

I ran over to help him. We attempted to fold it over, scoop it up with a spatualy, and scoot it over to the rack. (We are always determined, if he begin something it will be completed). After quite sometime and both of us being covered in Garlic Butter from one side and red sauce from the other. We now had an oversized crust with all the toppings with different sauces combined together, folded over in a calazone shape and placed it on the rack. Which we had pulled the rack out of the oven, to see if that would help.

Let me help you visualize this disaster. As we stood back and looked at this pizza, we now had a pizza covering the entire bottom rack of our oven. I had pizza sauce in my hair, up my arms and his hands continued to have bits of uncooked pizza crust stuck to it! The fresh crust is sagging in between each slot of the rack down into the stove top.

By this time Eric is speaking to me in a loud voice and explaining how we were not able to put this in the oven. I was laughing so much that he was trying to not be upset with me. (It doesn’t matter, I now think most things are funny). I said, “Hang on! I will call your mother!”

Betty could barely understand me as I laughed and laughed, I attempted to repeat the story, “Do you remember how you cooked Papa Murphy’s pizza.”

She was laughing at me and Eric, who was complaining in the background and swearing he was throwing it away! Unfortunately, she didn’t remember. So it was back to the drawing board.

I called the store, continued to laugh hysterically, and asked how to cook this pizza. The sweet little voice on the other end of the phone, chuckled at my story and said, “Mam, you are supposed to cook it on the paper pan it was originally on.”

Simultaneously, Eric barges out the door, onto the patio, with the instructions in hand, waving them like they are the winning lottery numbers! He says, loudly but still in a funny way, “TEENA, the very first instructions state, ‘Cook Pizza on provided pan.’ Why didn’t you read all of the instructions?”

Still on the phone with the store, I burst out laughing and said, “She told me three times the ‘middle’ instructions.”

We all three are now laughing.

I hung up the phone and we both stood, silently, glaring at this beast of a crust, now dripping in more directions than we can count! Questioning, How are we going to transfer this pizza back onto that? And how will it ever fit again?

We ended up folding it into fours and with four hands. We scooted this monstrosity of a pizza back on this tiny little pan. To avoid Eric from becoming more frustrated, I quickly smooshed the crust and scattered the toppings. It kind of fit, at least enough to cook.

The evening turned out to be perfect! He brought me beautiful flowers, we went for a bike ride and had a pizza adventure of a lifetime!

Life is funny to me. How can an unplanned, not materialistic focused, cooking pizza, Valentine’s Day become such an awesome memory? Because I have learned the journey is the most valuable part of living!

I couldn’t have planned a date night like this, if I tried. But I know neither of us will ever forget it!

I realize life gets you down. Just look at me, I have really had to keep from writing, lately because I allowed the politics to irritate me!

However, no matter what life, is to be lived! Good, Not so Good, Happy times, Down times, they all come together to create a beautiful plethora of colors to experience. I wish I could promise you everyday will be sunshine and butterflies, but I can not.

What I can promise you…when you have down times enjoy the time to rest and recoup because the upswing is going to be exhilarating and you will need your strength to ENJOY it to the fullest. I have never once experienced something negative that the next experience was not unbelievably TERRIFIC!

Keep your head up…You have got this and don’t forget to…

Live Love

&

Carry On

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